


High Five

by Vweston



Series: #CCC one shots and various other ideas [1]
Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, how do you tell your crush that you’re a virgin?, maybe smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:09:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28778061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vweston/pseuds/Vweston
Summary: A one shot where characters A and B play a drinking game.I’ve never written a fanfic before but I had this floating in my head for a month now! Please let me know what y’all think!
Relationships: Tora/Poppy Wilkes
Series: #CCC one shots and various other ideas [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109894
Comments: 25
Kudos: 73





	1. High Five

**Author's Note:**

> All Characters belong solely to queen Lilydusk!
> 
> This may not may not continue but I do plan on writing a series of one shots based on the weekly #ccc.
> 
>   
> Thanks Elisa and Mindy for beta-reading for me!! You two are the best :-)

"Guuuyssss....How am I supposed to tell him?!...OW!" Poppy slurred out while leaning into her balcony door. She fell over, not having realized that she had opened it to let the cool breeze in. She slowly got up, rubbing her elbow.

"Simple - just look him in the eye and say, 'Hey Tiger boy, wanna pop my cherry for me?'" Danae said while attempting to give Poppy her most seductive smile. Since she'd been drinking directly from her own bottle of rosé, it looked more like a sneer. She and Mirabelle were in town for the weekend. Narin City was a stopover during their final flight before becoming real flight attendants. They figured drinking with Poppy and Erdene until they passed out was a great way to celebrate.

"OMG, YASSSSSSSS girl! Be the ballsy little hamster he's always teasing you about!" Erdene said, snapping her fingers to emphasize her approval of Danae's suggestion.

Poppy damn near fell over again from laughter. "You know I can't say that to him! He's going to think I'm all weird and inexperienced if I try to seduce him like that!"

"He's not going to say that," Mirabelle mumbled from her sleeping position on the floor. How she always managed to be the first one to fall asleep was beyond Poppy's understanding, given that she was the most experienced drinker of the group.

"Wait!" Erdene said with a wide grin on her face. "I know the perfect way to tell him..."

—-

"I don't think you wanna play this game, Bobby," said Tora while looking over his right shoulder toward Poppy sitting a foot away from him on his couch. She was facing him with her feet tucked under her legs, her big caramel eyes wide with a combination of excitement and anxiety.

"Why not?" Poppy asked with a tilt to her head.

She had come over to check up on him; Quincey had mentioned he was sick when he'd stopped by Giant Goldfish earlier to look at some cover art mockups Erdene had put together. 

Tora wasn't really sick - he just didn't want to deal with Quincess. Ever since Tora and Poppy's combined birthday party, Quincey had been hounding Tora for details of their walk home. Being Tora, he just smacked Quince on the back of the head and told him to mind his own fucking business. Tora didn't need him meddling more than he already had.

That and ever since they had kissed at the club, every time Tora saw Poppy at the office, his mind kept drifting back to their kiss, causing his cock to get semi hard. Yesterday, he'd reached the end of his patience. 

Poppy had shown up to work wearing a tight blood- red pencil skirt with a matching blazer and a low cut billowing white blouse. Wrapped in a bow around her neck was a yellow silk scarf with light pink watercolor flowers and pale green stitching. Her hair was tied up and she wore a pair of yellow heels. She looked like a goddamn sexed up Christmas present and all he thought about the entire day was unwrapping his gift. 

So when Quincey called to ask what time he was coming by to pick him up, Tora grunted something unintelligible into the phone and hung up. He was NOT in the mood to deal with him and the embarrassment of walking around trying to hide a fucking hard on. Tora could swear Quincey had sent Poppy over to "check" on him as payback for hanging up on him while he was still talking.

So now here they were, sitting on his couch a foot apart and ignoring all of their awkward tension. Great.

" 'Cause I don't need ya dyin' of alcohol poisoning."

Poppy scoffed. "You don't know that; you have no idea what I have and haven't done in life."

"Ya telling me you really want to play this stupid drinking game where we try to get the other person to admit to shit they've done before?" He asked her, trying so hard to hold back a smile. She thought she was playing him. "What happens if I've done somethin'?" he asked, not having ever played this game, or any drinking game for that matter.

"Easy. You just lower one of your 5 fingers and take a shot."

"What do I get when I win?" he asked while leaning in a little closer to whisper the question into her ear, lips just grazing the outer edges.

"IF you win, I'll make you another rice ball," Poppy said while pulling back from him to look him dead in the eyes. She hadn't missed the fact that he thought he wasn't going to lose, nor how he was trying to get under her skin and throw her off her game. "And IF I win, I get to ask you anything I want and you have to tell me." 

Tora narrowed his eyes at her. "Fine, I've got some Jameson in the kitchen that Gyu brought over a month ago." He stood up to retrieve the whiskey and two glasses from the kitchen.

—-

"I told ya you'd lose," Tora said with a smug smile on his face. He made sure his dimples were really showing. 

"Stop that! How many times do I have to tell you to put those obscene dimples away?!" She yelled at him. "Whatever - you keep saying things you already know about me. That's cheating."

"Nu-uh, I didn't actually know that you went to college and I didn't actually know that you graduated. Ya gotta be more clear on the rules, Bobby." 

"Fine! Never have I ever...gotten a speeding ticket!" she said with a triumphant smile.

Tora sat there, his smile growing a bit wider, and just stared at her. He didn't lower a finger.

"WHAT?! Come on! I can't believe you've never gotten a speeding ticket." Poppy huffed out in annoyance. She only had one finger left up while he had three. 'How has he not done all this stuff before?' She had asked pretty safe questions in the beginning, like "Never have I ever gotten stitches" (even though she definitely should have, as clumsy as she was) and "Never have I ever gone to an underage house party." She was for sure certain he had, since he'd said that he'd partied a lot when he'd been younger. Apparently "partying" to him was just hanging out with a handful of friends and doing whatever they wanted. It wasn't until he had been older and no longer underage that he'd started going out to bars and nightclubs with the thuglets and Quincey.

He just shrugged. "Dunno why. Been pulled over a bunch, but when the cops would walk up and take a look at me, they would just give me a warning and let me go," Tora stated with a sly smile, giving her a little wink.

"Riiiight - it never had anything to do with that death glare I see you give people?" Poppy deadpanned.

Tora smirked again and reached up to pinch her cheek. Poppy swatted his arm away. At some point, they had gotten more comfortable on the couch and were sitting much closer together now.

"Fine, your turn," Poppy said while leaning into Tora. Those 4 shots were starting to get to her.

"Never have I ever..." he began, stopping to think of something he'd never done but was pretty sure she had "... slept in the same bed with someone of the opposite sex."

Poppy's eyes shot to Tora while lifting her head to look at him, already biting her lower lip and turning red. She hesitantly didn't lower one finger.

Tora thought that would have been one for her, having had a long term boyfriend and shit. "Ya serious?" 

"Are you serious? Have you really not slept next to someone of the opposite sex before?" Poppy was genuinely surprised, since one of the only questions that had gotten him to lower a finger after a couple of failed attempts was 'Never have I ever had sex...with a woman'. She hadn't planned on adding 'with a woman' at the end, but had chickened out from embarrassment after seeing Tora's eyes grow slightly wider. It hadn't been terribly noticeable but after spending so much time with him lately, she was able to tell when she'd caught him off guard.

"Yeah, I may not be a fucking virgin, but I've never been a boyfriend, and sleeping with someone is boyfriend shit." Tora said with a small blush on his cheeks, making a point to not look at her. Then he remembered about her and how she hadn't either. "Wait, what about you? How have you not? Wasn't that twinkle dick of an ex your boyfriend since high school?" 

Poppy's face grew redder. "Well, yeah...but we never...umm...we never really had the chance to sleep together....you know, I was living with my granny and he lived at home with his family...I don't know...." she trailed off with a small shrug of her own.

Poppy was getting desperate, She decided to take the opportunity to state the one thing she'd been working up to saying. Covering her face with her hands, she muffled, "Never have I ever... had...sex...with a man," into them. She was too embarrassed to say it directly to him. 

After a moment of silence, she was starting to panic 'What if he finds me--' her thought unable to finish when his hands softly pulled hers away from her face. He looked at her, his eyes not put off by this fact, but instead filled with concern.

"Ya don't have to be embarrassed, sweetheart," he said while lowering her hands into his. He let go of one, but held onto the other, then intertwined their fingers.

"It doesn't weird you out that I'm still...a...uh...virgin?" She said the last word so softly Tora could barely hear her whisper it.

"Why would it weird me out? I'll be honest - I am a bit surprised, but I guess I shouldn't be with twinkle dick as your ex."

Poppy let out a small laugh. "Believe me, he constantly tried to push... it.. on me but I honestly didn't want to. When we first started dating, I was so young and wasn't ready yet. As I got older, I never really felt any desire to be with him like... ya know... that. For a long time I thought something was wrong with me. I mean, I wanted to have sex... I wanted to know if it felt like how the heroines in my books described it to be. But whenever I thought I was ready, I just... wasn't... I guess that's why he cheated on me..." 

She was looking down at their conjoined hands, rambling now. Partly because of those shots, but also because she felt the need to convey to Tora that sex was something she was interested in, specifically with him.

"Oi, look at me, Bobby," Tora commanded with more anger than intended. "Ya have nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of. All that shit is on him. It ain't your fault you didn't desire him, it's his fault for not making ya desire him. Instead of making ya feel like shit all the time, he shoulda been showin' ya how lucky he was to even be able to just hold your hand. If I were him, I would have made damn sure you wanted to be with me like that," he said with all seriousness. "Ya ex was a shit boyfriend and would have made a shit lover, I'm sure of that. If anything, ya did yaself a solid by waitin'. Now you can give it to someone that's earned it." It was his turn now to turn away from embarrassment after his admission.

Poppy's eyes welled with tears she was trying to hold back. ‘ _I will not cry right now, I will not cry right now!’_

Tora cleared his throat and said, "Anyways...I'm next. Never have I ever...gone skinny dipping." He thought this should definitely be a safe one for her. He would feel bad taking her out of the game after what she had just confessed to him.

Poppy bit down on her lower lip again, her skin inflamed and lowered her last finger while taking a shot.

"Ballsy hamster," Tora grinned.

The End

—-

The other things Poppy had done that Tora hadn’t-

  1. Climbed a tree
  2. Ridden a roller coaster 



Another thing she hadn’t done but thought Tora had-

Poppy-“Never have I ever...stolen anything”

Tora-“Sorry to disappoint ya, sweetheart- I’ve never stolen anything before...without returning it and leaving money for taking it.” Saying the last part under his breath.

Poppy- “That’s the same thing!”

Tora-“Nope, not stealing if ya give it back, Bobby”


	2. Bargain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wait, what?! There’s more?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m still not sure where I’m taking this story, but the process has been fun! 
> 
> Again, the characters all belong to queen Lilydusk

"Well shit, Bobby, I didn't know you were an exhibitionist. Why ya holdin’ out on me?" Tora said as his grin turned more into a flirtatious smirk.

"It wasn't like that!" Poppy huffed like a petulant child.

"Suuuure it wasn't, sweetheart. That's what they all say," he teased back.

"Seriously! It was back in high school- Danae and Mirabelle wanted to cool off while we were hiking and came across a small lagoon with a waterfall. We figured since no one was around-this was before Moonbright became a popular tourist spot- we could take a moment to cool off for a few minutes. The only reason why we even took off our clothes was because we didn't want to hike back in them soaking wet."

Tora's mind drifted away just then, fantasizing what it'd be like to find that little lagoon with Bobby and taking a "moment" to cool off. He pictured her shyly turning away from him while she undressed herself and slipping her naked body just below the waterline so he couldn't really make out all the details of her luscious curves. He, on the other hand, would just start undressing in front of her to see how much he could make her blush before she gave in and turned around in the water.  _ Ha! Even in his fantasy she's shy.  _ At this thought, he let out a little laugh. 

“Tora?"

“Huh?" He replied in a daze. His mind was still far away, lost in his fantasy. He needed to get a grip of himself.

"You...umm...look like you slipped...umm...away…" Poppy was struggling with her words, her eyes were too transfixed on the crotch of Tora's sweatpants. He had started to grow a noticeable bulge.

_ Fuck fuck fuck!  _ Tora internally screamed when he looked to where her eyes were pointing.  _ How the actual fuck?!  _

Well, there's no hiding the obvious, thought Tora. "...seems so, sweetheart..." his blush reaching a color so deep he didn't even know was possible. "S..sorry, does it make you uncomfortable?" He stuttered out while continuing his internal chastise.  _ Where’s that damn blanket?! How are ya this much of a fucking horny pervert that ya sprung a goddamn fucking hard on while sitting right the fuck next to her?! _

Poppy gnawed on her bottom lip, contemplating what to do next. She was watching him struggle with himself when she thought about how he always teased her for being ballsy. And even though words seemed to have left her, those 5 shots gave her just enough courage to minutely shake her head. She pulled her eyes away from the large tent that had grown in his pants to stare into the depths of eyes so golden, they seemed nearly unnatural. Those very eyes were looking at her now with a mix of lust and shame. “ _ How is it possible to have so much conflicting emotions show in his eyes?”  _ She thought to herself. 

Tora didn't want Poppy to leave since she'd been drinking. Yet, he didn't know how to redirect this conversation, especially since she'd been drinking. He didn't want to take advantage of her current state but could no longer hide his own desire for her, in the most literal of ways, at that. While his logic warred with his emotions, he was quickly pulled back to the present when he felt a small hand tentatively touch the inside of his right thigh causing his cock to twitch and his eyes to widen. 

"Sweetheart...w-what are you..." his brain short circuited as her hand moved further...up.

Instantly, Tora's hand circled her wrist, stopping her just before she reached the point of no return. "I-I don't think that's a good idea. You've been drinking and I don't want ta take advantage of ya like that."

Rolling her eyes, Poppy said, "Oh, stop being a worry wart! Five baby shots over a couple of hours isn't going to get me wasted. See?" Pulling her other hand from his, she made a show of touching her nose like one would do during a sobriety test after being pulled over. To be honest, they really were baby shots. Tora had been pouring only a thimble of the toffee colored liquid into her shot glass.

Tora searched her bright eyes to look for signs that contradicted what she just told him but couldn't find any. Her eyes moved smoothly side to side, pupils were dilating normally- though her eyes did have more of a sheen to them, but that could be from when she got teary eyed earlier. Even still, Tora wasn't 100% sure and didn't want to risk her having any regrets. The last time he’d reached out to kiss her, she had stopped him. The idea of rejection put a halt to his internal debate and made him stand up. 

Looking down over his shoulder to a wide eyed Poppy sitting on the couch, a finger still on her nose. "Yeah, ya may not be wasted but you have been drinking, Bobby. And fuck if I'm going to let you keep going while your judgment is being fueled by whiskey." Speaking harsher than intended while walking to the kitchen to grab some water for the both of them, adjusting himself along the way.

Her eyes started to well with tears again at the thought of his rejection.  _ I will not cry, I will not cry! _

As Tora returned to the living room, he saw Poppy curled up in the corner of his couch with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. Her unshed tears precariously hanging onto the outer edges of her eyelashes. “ _ Shit look what ya did now ya dumb fuck!”  _ He quickly ran over to her, placed the two glasses on the floor beside the couch and scooped her up to cradle her in his lap " Hey, hey, please don't cry." He pulled her in close to his chest and  rested her head there. After a couple of seconds passed, he brought his hand up to cup her cheek and gently directed her face to look upwards at him. He wiped away a fallen tear. "I don't want that big beautiful heart of yours ta think I don't want to be with ya, ok. 'Cause honestly, it’s the farthest from the fucking truth. But if ya want to take things to the next level, I'm gonna need ya to be 100% sure. I respect ya too damn much to accept anything less.” He spoke with a gentler tone in an attempt to reassure her.

"B-but...what if I decided what I wanted b-before I...came over?" She whispered up at him softly.

Inhaling slowly through his nose, it took Tora all his strength to not bring her lips up to his. He wanted her so badly, with every shattered piece of his soul. But how could she possibly want him back? He had nothing to offer her. He could never be what she deserved and it would be selfish of him to allow her to continue without her knowing what and who he really is. "Then we'll wait," he whispered softly back, caressing her cheek with his thumb and giving her a delicate kiss on her lips. "If ya really are serious, we can talk more about it another time.”

"You said that last time and you ignored me for a week..." She said dejectedly 

Shit...he did.

"How about this, I'll pick ya up tomorrow for dinner at Alice's? I promise we'll talk then.” He bargained. “I gotta tell ya some stuff about me that you're not going ta like. Trust me, I don't wanna tell ya, but ya need to know who I really am.”

"But I already know who you really are.” She was still looking up at him but shifted her position so she was eye level with him.

"Nah, Sweetheart. I've kept my real self hidden from ya."

"No.” She said firmly. “You've shown me exactly who you are. The true you that you keep hidden from everyone else." Her voice broke no augmented.

Looking boldly into his eyes with more courage than she thought she had, she continued. "You're not the bad guy you want everyone to see." She reached up to place her small hand over his Balthuman crest "This person...he isn't you." she then moved her other hand to rest where his heart was. "This, this is who you truly are." Moving her hand away, she placed a small kiss just above his heart while inhaling his scent. She could feel his heart beating erratically against her lips and rested her head there so she could hear it, as well. "This is the heart of someone that's good." He tried to pull her away to say something just then but she stopped him with her following words. "Tora, being made to do bad things isn't the same as being a bad person. I know I don't know what you do exactly, but I'm no dummy. I know you... participate...in nefarious activities. And...and I think I'm ok with not knowing everything. At least for now." She angled her face up to look at him while saying the last part.

It was his turn to have tears teetering on the edge.  _ How is it that this feisty, ballsy little hamster, can see right into me? She really is a fucking goddamn angel.  _

He wouldn't have been able to stop himself even if he tried, hypnotized by her impossibly big beautiful eyes filled with nothing but compassion and acceptance, he leaned in and touched his lips to hers with an impassioned kiss.

He pulled away just before the kiss became overwhelming, stopping himself from losing all sense of control. Resting his forehead against hers, he spoke softly. “Ya really have no idea what you’re doing to me. Every ounce of my being wants to pick ya up and take ya into my bedroom and never let ya leave. But...I told ya I’m taking ya to dinner at Alice’s and telling ya about the kinda shit I’m involved in. At least the bit that I can.” He grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her hard- he needed her to feel the truth in his words. “If...if ya still want me after that...well, I’m already yours…” He lifted his head away from hers before continuing. “But I’ll at least let ya feel me up with your hands...or other parts of ya...if ya want.” He gave her another dimply smirk and wink.

”Pfft pfft,” she giggled while smacking his shoulder. “Ok, that’s a deal perv!”


	3. The Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi loves! I have to be honest, this chapter was REALLY hard to write. 
> 
> As someone that’s been lucky enough to grow up with a loving and supportive family, I spent a lot of time trying to understand how an evil person can take a kind soul and twist them into something else. I had to kinda delve into the mind of Vincent and think of how he would groom a kid like Tora.
> 
> So yeah, I hope y’all like it. But I gotta warn y’all, there’s talk of major childhood trauma and abuse. So read with caution.
> 
> As always, all characters belong to queen Lilydusk!
> 
> Also, I want to thank KniteLyte for helping me out! You’re the bestest

**_Earlier in the day_ **

_“_ Booboo, I need you to bring my little editor by tonight. I have some new chapters I want to go over with her,” Quincey said from the kitchen. Tora was on the couch playing one of his first shooter games.

“No,” was Tora’s only reply.

“Honey...what do you mean ‘no’?” Quincey had started sauntering over to where Tora was sitting.

“‘S exactly what that means. I ain’t bringing her over,” Tora grumbled back.

“Ooook, but I’m going to need you to tell me why. She’s my editor and I need her to go over this scene with me, I’m not sure there’s enough smut...unless you want to, of course.” he said smugly as he gracefully sat down on the other end of the couch.

“Ya fired me, remember?” 

“Yes, yes, but that’s only because I found someone more loquacious. If you’re not going to help me, I’ll need her.”

“No…” Tora paused a moment before continuing, “...taking her to dinner.”

Quincey’s whole mouth dropped open for a second before responding. “Wait, honey...what did you just say?”

“I don’t fucking repeat myself. If ya didn’t hear me, that’s your own damn fault to deal with,” Tora growled out.

“Hmm...I see. And where are you taking my little editor this evening?” Quincey inquired.

“Alice’s.”

“....” Quincey didn’t quite know how to respond. He just sat there with his mouth half open in a stunned stupor. Tora never took anyone to Alice’s. It was one of the only places he could escape to. “Well, I’m sure Alice would love to meet her,” He finally said.

“She already had.”

“ _Wait, what?! Did I hear that correctly?’’_ He silently questioned before speaking again “What do you mean you’ve already taken her? How come I didn’t know about it?”

Tora paused his game and pinched the bridge of his nose, willing patience for his nosey ass brother. Fuck he needed a cigarette. “‘Cause ya don’t need to know about my fucking business all the damn time.” He stated, looking at Quincey just staring back with an all knowing smile plastered on his smug face. “I took her there the day after we met...needed a low key place so no one could see us.” Another pause. “I...uh...I’m going to tell her about my...circumstances…”He was stuttering over what to say. “She needs to know what kinda shit she’s gotten herself into…”

“Reeeaally? You don’t say. And why does she need to know all of a sudden?”

“Ya fucking know why!”

“Nope, I need you to use your words, booboo.”

“She wants ta...she...we...fuck, I don’t even fucking know. All’s I know is if we’re going to keep doin’ whatever the fuck we’re doin’, she needs to know what she’s involved herself with.”

“What or whom?”

Standing up from the couch Tora barked, “Ya know that answer, fuckwit. Now leave me the fuck alone, will ya. I gotta get ready.” before making his way to the bathroom.

——

Tora sat at his usual table trying to calm his damn nerves with his green tea while waiting for their food to be brought up. Not only was he stressed as fuck about his impending conversation with Poppy, but of course the old bat had ta go and embarrass him again.

When they arrived at Alice’s he assumed they’d be greeted with a few quick barbs directed at him. He, however, hadn’t expected Alice would turn her attention to Poppy and the two would gang up on him.

~~

_“Oi, Alice!” Tora said while leaning against the front counter. When she popped her head around, he quickly stepped back- remembering when she had clocked him in the head with her fan the last time he called out to her like that._

_“Well, well, well, look who it is. Didn’t think ya had the balls to bring the little lamb back into the lion's den.” Alice said while pulling her glasses down from the top of her head to sit comfortably on the bridge of her nose, a cloud of smoke floating around her from her vape as she exhaled._

_“I hope ya picked up the XL sized ones like I told ya. I’m too young to be a granny and too tired to deal with cubs runnin’ around this place. Tiger here was bad enough. Don’t need a whole damn litter of ‘em.”_

_“Pfft pfft,” Poppy giggled. “Don’t worry, like you said last time, the tiger’s too fragile to handle this little lamb.”_

_“The fuck ya two going on about?! How am I fucking fragile?” Tora snapped, moving his eyes between the two tiny women standing next to each other._

_“See, still fragile.” Poppy confirmed with a wink directed towards Alice._

_“The fuck ever...Headin’ upstairs ta my table. I’ll get the usual plus sake for this one.” He pointed his chin in Poppy’s direction and turned to head upstairs, mumbling something under his breath about showing them who the fragile one really was._

_Poppy followed quickly behind, trying to stifle a laugh. It wasn’t lost on her how their roles had quickly reversed from the last time they were here. That seemed to be happening a lot lately._

~~

“Come on, stop being like this,” Poppy said.

“I’m not being like anything. I’m just being me,” Tora snapped back.

“Yeah, but now you’re all moody again,” She replied.

“Well, ya would be too if ya old lady ganged up on ya with your...ummm..shit..friend?” Tora wasn’t quite sure what they were. 

Poppy sat for a moment absorbing what Tora was attempting to say. She’s known for a while that he’s wanted to be more than friends, but neither of them have really breached that conversation. “ _I guess that’s what tonight is for.”_ she thought to herself.

Poppy could tell that Tora was having trouble finding the right words. She reached out her left hand and rested it on the both of his that sat loosely in his lap. “...more than friends…” 

“Ya say that now, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I still intend ta tell ya about my life. After that, I doubt you’ll want anything to do with me,” Tora said with a sigh.

“Why don’t you let me decide that for myself?”

They paused their conversation when a kid in his teens walked up the steps towards them with a tray full of food. Once he was gone, Poppy looked up at Tora and gave his hand an encouraging squeeze to let him know she was prepared for whatever it was he felt she needed to know about him.

Tora cleared his throat. “Umm…right… well...” he was struggling to find the right words again. “When I was a kid…” Tora started back up but unable to look at her directly. Instead he focused on her small hand that lay atop his. Letting the feeling of her skin ground him. “... Vincent, Quincey’s dad took me in. He found me on the streets when I was about 6 or so, can’t really remember. Before that I was in a group home with other kids like me but ran away. They weren’t treatin’ us right.” 

“After being on the streets for awhile, Vince saw me in an alley around Ares street, standing up against another street kid that was probably twice my size. This other kid, Goliath, who ran away with me from the group home, was on the ground bleeding from a fucking sucka punch. Apparently the asshole wanted the candy that Goliath had coped from a corner store. Anyways, I guess Vince saw ’potential‘ in me and lured me and Goliath into his car. He told us he was gonna take us somewhere ta eat and we fucking believed him.” Tora let out a small defeated laugh. “If only we stayed on the streets...”

“At first, Vincent treated us like a loving father. Buying us new clothes, toys, candy, whatever the fuck we asked for all the while calling us his sons. Goliath and I thought we hit the fuckin jackpot. It wasn’t until a few days after taking us in, that he started to ’test us,’ as he would say….”

Tora continued telling Poppy about the beginning days with Vincent. He mentioned how Vince kept Tora and Goliath in a separate part of the house and didn’t even know about Quincey for the first couple of weeks. 

“I remember him bringing home a stray puppy and him telling us to take care of the little fucker. That we needed to train and disciple him. Break him in to ensure he always did what we ordered. Goliath was more ambitious to take on that task, whereas I just wanted to play with the little fur ball. God, I remember him being so stinkin’ cute.”

“I don’t know when, maybe a week later, Vince walked into the small room he gave us and ordered us to bring the pup to him. He wanted us to show him how much we’d broken him in. Vince had Goliath go first and seemed only mildly disappointed that the pup didn’t respond to his commands. However, when I tried to give an order, the pup would just plop down in front of me, resting his head on my feet. I guess that’s not what Vince was looking for, so he snatched the pup by the scruff of his neck and threw him across the room.” He heard Poppy gasp at that and he squeezed her hand tighter. “When I tried to protect him from Vince, he shoved me down and told me that it was my fault the dog didn’t listen and that I needed to be taught a very important lesson.”

“I vaguely remember him walking out of the room and coming back in with a small baseball bat and told me I had to beat the discipline into the mutt and if I didn’t, he would take the bat and beat us with it for not listening to his orders. So, I got up and grabbed the bat and stalked over to the cowering little bundle of fur. God, I remember him shaking so badly…tears were already streaming down my face. After seeing the pup so scared, I just couldn’t do it. I would have rather gotten a beating for disobeying orders than beat an innocent animal.” 

“Of course, Vince wasn’t happy about that and snatched the bat out of my hand and raised it to strike me. But instead of hitting me with it, he turned on his heel and swung the bat into Goliath’s stomach and again on his ass when he fell to the ground. Afterwards, Vince dropped the bat at my feet and told me what happened to Goliath was my fault and next time I disobeyed him, he was going to take the bat to the smaller boy’s head.”

Poppy sat next to a trembling Tora in complete silence, trying to absorb as much of the story as she could. She knew his boss was a bad guy, but she had no idea he was a complete psychopath. 

“A couple of days later, Vince came back and had us give the mutt commands again to see if we improved. Like before, the pup slightly followed Goliath’s commands but when it came to me, he just sat there. I tried begging the fur ball to listen to me, but the lil guy wouldn’t budge. Vince handed me the bat that he brought with him into the room and ordered me to beat the pup to death. That I needed to learn how to take orders just as the mutt did. And that if I didn't, I would end up like the mutt…so...I...fuck Pops...I did what he ordered…” Tora pulled his hand away from Poppy, too ashamed to allow himself the comfort of her warm hand. 

“...Tora…” Poppy started to say through her tears, reaching her hand back out to his but he pulled it back before she could touch him.

Tora turned to face Poppy head on, tears in his own eyes now. “Please, I...need...fuck...I need you to understand me, to know that I was trained since I was a boy to kill without hesitation or emotions. That the little fur ball wasn’t my last innocent victim that was subjected to Vincent’s preferred method of training me. When I was teen, Vincent moved from using animals to lowly street thugs that owed him money. He forced me to take my first human life at 14...a kid that tried to sneak out of town to avoid paying Vince back. At first I refused, telling him to fuck off, that I ain’t about taking the life of some poor street kid. That’s when he took that damn bat he always made me use, and swung it across my face- breaking my jaw- and told me to choose between my life or the kid’s. When I still refused he bent over the terrified kid and broke one of his fingers and told me if I didn’t start obeying his orders like the dog I was trained to be, he was going to break each finger in the kid’s hands before cutting them off one by one. And that by killing him, I’ll stop his slow torture to death. That I had the power to end the kid’s life quickly with one solid hit to the back of his head or slowly...that either way he was going to die.”

“After I...obeyed his orders...he dragged me to a clan parlor to get this fucking shit,” Tora pointed to the Balthuman crest on his neck “branded on me so I’ll never forget who I belong to.”

With pleading eyes, Tora continued. “I fucking hate what he’s turned me into. I hate the control he has over me, I hate what he makes me do, I hate the fucking clan, I hate… _him_ … but… this is my life and I’m exactly who he made me into. I’m a fucking monster and I have no other choice. It’s either do what he says or he’ll figure out a way to make my life worse. He always has. He knows my weaknesses better than anyone else and knows how to weaponize them.” Tears were now freely flowing from Tora’s eyes.

With soft and gentle hands, as to not startle him, Poppy reached up and wiped away his tears. Leaving her own tears to fall down her cheeks and onto her lap. She was focused solely on Tora and his pain and nothing else. Slowly she inched closer to him until they were close enough for their thighs to touch. Hesitating for a brief moment, wondering how much he’ll allow her to comfort him, she climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around his torso, resting her head over his heart just like she did the night before. 

With her face angled upwards so she can look at him as she spoke softly, “...Tora…” pausing briefly to steady her voice. “You’re not the monster you think you are. You're the incredibly unfortunate result of horrific circumstances that you were unlucky enough to be born into. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, had you been raised differently, you’d be the kind, gentle, caring, loving, protective, and amazing person that you truly are, all of the time...not just some of the time. You would openly and freely love with every fiber in your being without worry or fear of it ever being used against you. The fact that you _are_ that person still, despite what your capturer tried so cruelly to strip out of you…to...to be able to hold onto your humanity when life worked so hard to take it away, is testimony to how strong and pure your soul truly is.”

Tora couldn’t believe what was happening. He had prepared himself to lose Poppy tonight. To be chased away by his demons. He surely hadn’t prepared for her to be sitting in his lap, after confessing to being a hardened killer, while she reached into the depths of his soul with her tender touch and soothing words. _“How is she still here? This angel...she can’t be real...this can’t be real…”_ He closed his eyes, focusing on how she felt in his arms. He could feel the tension and anxiety washing off of him with each passing word and stroke of her fingers, now over the crest that was his collar. She had placed her hand over it at some point while speaking. 

He didn’t know what to do next so he just kept holding her. Afraid if he let her go, she would change her mind and run away as fast as she could, like she’s supposed to do. He wasn’t sure how long they sat like that, but after some time, his stomach growled. Interrupting the quiet that had descended into the small space. Poppy lifted her head from Tora’s chest with a little giggle. “Pfft, I guess we should feed the Tiger before he gets hangry.” And climbed off to sit back down where she previously sat.

The silent understanding that no matter what, they had each other to help them stumble through the darkness, to guide the other until they reached the light that they found within one another, filled the space between them.

And with that, they sat there quietly eating. Both of them feeling true contentment for the first time in their lives. 

  
The End...I think 

**Author's Note:**

> I liked the idea of Tora taking the opportunity to tell Poppy things he hadn’t done that were rather normal things experienced by regular kids and adults. Whereas, Poppy assumed Tora had all these more illegal or seedy experiences because she figured it was part of normal thug life.


End file.
